Luo Nyanza must respect
its leaders
The latest fracas at a funeral in
Oyugis in caused by an attempt to undermine the sitting area MP underscores how
the people of Luo Nyanza have continued to undermine their political leaders.
Here is where, immediately a person becomes a political leader, a councilor or an
MP, he/she becomes ‘an enemy of the
people.’
A survey recently indicated that Luo
Nyanza leads with MPs who will never see the next parliament. This is due to
their perceived frustration of their people in their failure to achieve their
election pledges. As much as we blame our leaders for under-development in this
region, let us blame ourselves for frustrating their efforts to spur
socio-economic development in Luo Nyanza. Nearly every politician here is not
welcome, even in his/her own backyard.
Nyanza is currently the poorest
province in this nation. We would quickly point our fingers at our leaders. I
wonder if we have really taken time to think of our politics as a people.
Politics full of hatred, cynicism, criticism and jealousy. The worst culprits
are we, the youth, who have refused to learn no matter what. We have been
convinced by our leaders’ opponents to hate them with passion and us eviolence
to propel the opponents to power. We are never appreciative of the efforts of
our current leaders. We have resorted to changing of leaders like clothes.
Think of a person like Tuju, a first time MP, who was ousted due to his lack of
sympathy for ODM.
Insecurity for leaders is so
grave that some of them have even resorted to violence to protect themselves
from the very people who joyously and faithfully voted for them. They are never
free men in their territories. Surely, in such an environment, development has
never been any easy.
To succeed here, one must not
only develop every nook and cranny of his constituency in one term (very
impossible), but also publicly worship Raila Odinga. ‘Baba’ must be adored. Moreso
during this electioneering period, the stakes are so high. That is why, Orwa
Ojode, inspite of his immense development record, is not being talked of well
here.
We have been in the ’cold’ for so
long. But the warmth of this coalition government should be enough to teach us
the virtue of love and unity. We must stop hating our leaders for cheap
politics. Good or bad, they are our representatives and it is our responsibility
to help them develop our constituencies. As a people, we must realize that
development is a concept of collective responsibility where all are
stakeholders in cooperation and understanding. When we are united for a purpose
with our leaders, we shall pull this region out of poverty.
Chrispory Juma Ombuya,
Oyugis Town
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